Celebrating by Giving
We celebrate and honor people, places, events, and holidays in many ways. One of these ways is by giving. People give gifts to celebrate with one another. People sometimes also give the gift of time. They do this by volunteering. When you volunteer, you freely offer your time to help others. Celebrating by giving to others is a popular activity during the holiday season. Volunteering is a way many people choose to give to others this time of year.
Do you and your family work in a soup kitchen? Have you helped with a Habitat for Humanities project with your youth group? Do you volunteer to clean up a local river on a Saturday? What other ways do you practice good citizenship in your community?
Many schools and citizenship groups lend their time to work in food pantries, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters to help those in need. This is a great gift, and a great way to celebrate the holiday season!
This group in Chicago is helping to clean and repair a local elementary school
Most people who volunteer do so for little or nothing in return. Today, the Disney Corporation wants to reward volunteers. Disney is celebrating volunteering and citizenship by offering a new program, called “Give a Day. Get a Disney Day.” During most of 2010 you and your family can go to one of the two Disney Celebration Parks free when you volunteer in your community!
Disney hopes to reward others for volunteering with its new program.
There are many ways to celebrate others. When we give of our time and volunteer to help others, we are celebrating ourselves, too. Have fun and celebrate!
TLX News Journal Civics Activity:
Think about the spirit of giving and volunteering to help others. Do you think that you should be rewarded for helping others? Do you think that Disney’s “Give a Day Get a Disney Day.” is a good idea? Write a letter to an imaginary newspaper sharing your ideas.
